10 Reasons Why WWE Fans Are Sick Of Nostalgia
9. The Well Is Dry
The 2011 return of The Rock was brilliant both in itself - his introductory promo atoned for years of SuperCena dominance - and in the timing of it. WWE resembled a black hole in 2011, such was the dearth of star power.
The returns diminished from there - though the reintroduction of Brock Lesnar did yield one of the best acts of modern times. Chris Jericho, before undergoing a tear in 2016, turned off fans by appearing, unchanged, at his own behest. Daniel Bryan indirectly compromised Batista's 2014 return. By late 2016, spurned fans were unable to accept Goldberg's return until after the fact, explaining the jeers he received at Fastlane. The second act of his part-time return was met with dread because the third, all too often, is damaging.
The return of The Rock ignited the imaginations of the fandom. Who was next?
But, in rapid order, the convergence of lesser stars and the disproportionately dominant way in which they were booked repelled the fandom. The prestige is in decline; in parallel, the part-time performers are in decline physically. Though the reduced schedules of the Undertaker and Triple H circa 2011/12 slowly antagonised fans who invested all year-round, on the night, their superb WrestleMania performances countered criticisms that those performances were counterproductive. Now, with Undertaker resolutely (but not formally) done, and Trips slowing to a crawl over the last two years, their currency is eroding in disharmony with their bump clocks.
All roads lead to the nadir of the nostalgia era - but, yet again, nostalgia is the theme of the Road to WrestleMania 34.